East Stroudsburg's new lab to help fight ills from insects

Lyme disease is top priority. Center will train college students.

June 15, 2006|By Genevieve Marshall Of The Morning Call

Scientists at East Stroudsburg University's new Northeast Infectious Disease Diagnostic Laboratory will focus on understanding and combating diseases spread by insects, especially Lyme disease, which is transmitted by ticks.

The lab opened three weeks ago for diagnostic services in the university's Applied DNA Sciences Facility after a $400,000 renovation to the building.

In addition to being a testing facility for ticks, the new lab will provide a training ground for East Stroudsburg's undergraduate and graduate students, said lab manager Gary Fromert.

Since the fall, Fromert and others have been working with Monroe County Vector Control on a surveillance program to determine the prevalence of four diseases spread by the deer tick in Monroe County.

Common diseases spread by ticks in Pennsylvania include Lyme disease, ehrlichiosis, babesiosis and bartonellosis.

Before the laboratory opened for diagnostic services, samples were usually sent out-of-state for DNA analysis, said Jacquelyn Hakim, director of Monroe County Vector Control.

"This is a big deal," said Hakim, who previously advised people concerned about contracting a disease from a tick to send the insect to a lab in Vermont.

"It helps to have a lab nearby that can turn around and do the analysis quickly."

In the Poconos and other parts of eastern Pennsylvania, an estimated 10 percent to 13 percent of ticks carry Lyme disease. Some pockets of Monroe County have incident rates as high as 30 percent, Hakim said.

The number of cases of disease transmitted by the deer and dog tick has increased dramatically over the last 15 years, as wooded areas have been fragmented by new housing developments, putting deer and other wildlife closer to humans.

Pennsylvania has the second highest Lyme disease infection rate in the nation, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ticks feed on the blood of infected wildlife, become infected themselves and can transmit the disease to a human by attaching to skin.

If left untreated, a Lyme disease infection can spread to joints, the heart and the nervous system. Most cases of Lyme disease can be treated successfully with a few weeks of antibiotics, according to the CDC.

Vector Control will identify ticks by species and life stage free for anyone who mails a dead tick (they can be quickly killed with alcohol) in a sealed plastic bag.

Knowing if the tick is male or a larva usually eliminates the need for testing, because those ticks don't transmit disease.

But if the tick is a female adult, Hakim recommended talking to a physician about testing the tick, even if the person doesn't have any Lyme disease symptoms, which include a circular rash, joint aches, fatigue, chills and fever.

At East Stroudsburg's lab, the cost of diagnostic testing for ticks ranges from $75 to $175 per tick. There are commercial labs nationwide that also test ticks. The lab does not analyze human blood.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health doesn't offer testing for ticks because being bit by an infected tick does not necessarily mean the person will be infected, said Stan Reynolds, director of clinical microbiology.

Also, knowing that one tick is not infected does not mean a person is free of disease -- the person could have been infected by another tick that wasn't captured, he said.

"Testing the tick is fine if a person is concerned and wants an answer as soon as possible, but it's not 100 percent assurance," Reynolds said.